Image: Screenshot of HousingForward Virginia’s Zoning Atlas, featuring the city of Richmond, VA.

HousingForward Virginia (HFV) is a non-partisan, non-profit housing research and education organization. They focus on the data, knowledge, and resources needed to create, preserve, and improve housing options across the Commonwealth. 

HousingForward Virginia has continued to build out and improve the Virginia Zoning Atlas, an interactive map that shows how local zoning regulations limit the type and amount of housing that can be built. Over the past year, HFV has added the Northern Virginia and Richmond regions to the atlas. With this new tool, housing advocates can better understand how zoning is impacting affordable housing in their communities. For example, in the Richmond region, did you know that only 2% of developable land allows for apartments without having to go through a public hearing process? This type of information puts into context just how much the needed housing supply is artificially limited. 

But a bigger question HFV hopes to answer is how does Virginia zone for housing? With over 150 more jurisdictions to analyze, HFV is actively seeking funders to complete the Virginia Zoning Atlas. As a tool to better educate zoning and land use policies, the Virginia Zoning Atlas is a necessary tool for policymakers at the state- and local-levels.

“Being a member of Virginia Housing Alliance helps us understand the policy questions that need to be answered through new data and research. Through collaboration with VHA, we often couple stories of lived-experience and impact with numbers and evidence-based analysis to support better informed decision-making.”

-Eric Mai, Executive Director for Strategy & Sustainability at HFV